BajaNews
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Spike in Meth addictions worries specialists
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/miami/22273.html
The steadily rising use of methamphetamines in Mexico has health and addiction specialists worried, due the drug´s cheap price and the quick pace at
which addicts´ health degenerates
By Jonathan Roeder
08 de diciembre de 2006
The steadily rising use of methamphetamines in Mexico has health and addiction specialists worried, due the drug´s cheap price and the quick pace at
which addicts´ health degenerates.
Studies carried out by the Centro de Integración Juvenil (Juvenile Integration Center), a non-profit group that operates drug treatment centers
nationwide, show that since 1995 use of methamphetamines has spread exponentially, especially along the border with California and in Pacific Coast
states.
In the mid-90s, Mexico´s only cases of meth addicts occurred in Tijuana, according to the organization. But by 2004, use had spread all the way to the
opposite corner of the nation in Cancún. The phenomenon is especially high in Pacific Coast states, with many treatment centers from Baja California
to Colima reporting over 50 percent of all drug users suffering from meth addictions. In one of the Juvenile Integration Center´s Tijuana clinics, 100
percent of those undergoing treatment are addicted to methamphetamines.
Experts such as Javier López- Zefino, a doctor at the California State University-Long Beach who has studied meth use along the U.S.-Mexico border,
said the addicts that show up in clinics and treatment centers represent only about 17 percent of the total users.
"Crystal meth use is like an iceberg," López-Zefino said on Thursday, interviewed during a Mexico City conference hosted by the Juvenile Integration
Center. "You only see a fraction of users, but there are many more below the surface."
The drug, often called crystal or ice, is a c-cktail of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine - ingredients commonly used in cold medications - with industrial
chemicals. It is manufactured in clandestine labs.
With sales of cold medicine containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine now highly regulated in the United States, production has largely shifted to
Mexico, where "superlabs" manufacture large quantities of the drug for shipment north.
López-Zefino said what Mexican health authorities interpreted as a flu epidemic from 2002 to 2005 - when sales of cold medication skyrocketed - was
more likely drugs going toward fueling meth production.
Ricardo Sánchez Huesca and Raúl Palacios Lazos, both doctors who work with the Juvenile Integration Center, said meth consumption is popular among
young women and teens because it suppresses the appetite, and it is taken to help lose weight. It is also cheap and long-lasting - a dose of meth
costs a fraction of a similar quantity of cocaine and lasts many hours longer, they said. Some users say it serves as an aphrodisiac and enhances sex.
The drug causes a rapid deterioration of the body, since users often don´t eat or sleep. It eats away at teeth enamel, causing cavities, and sometimes
causes users to pick at their skin, opening sores and lesions.
Some clinics and treatment centers in western parts of the country have been overwhelmed, Sánchez and Palacios said, with understaffed facilities
unable to deal with large numbers of addicts showing up with symptoms similar to schizophrenia.
Sánchez also suggested that the recent "boom" in methamphetamine use in Mexico had yet to reach its zenith.
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Slowmad
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Registered: 3-24-2005
Location: Alta California
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And there you have it.
Most (IMO) of the crime experienced by visitors is meth-related.
Kidnappings and policia beheadings generally don't befall the Nomad.
Car theft, camp burglaries, muggings, "creepy encounters," and assaults are what we must occasionally contend with.
"Chuchi" is bad news, and I fear the peak is nowhere in sight.  
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
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Location: Punta Banda
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Actually, when I use it, it doesn't seem to do anything. It's a powder detergent, right?
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Slowmad
Nomad
Posts: 243
Registered: 3-24-2005
Location: Alta California
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Brutal, Grover.
Just brutal.
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
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Mood: undecided
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Better than Viagra and while you're awake for 4 days you can also watch your teeth rot and pick sores on your arms.
Wonderful!!!
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